


The Present

by artemisswan



Series: Holiday Specials [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, rated f for fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 07:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5531672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisswan/pseuds/artemisswan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the very smile that she had been hoping to see when she originally came up with the idea to make him a present on her birthday. Now she has finally seen it directed at her and she could help the grin the broke out on her face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Present

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays Miraculous Fandom!

Marinette had her head between her knees and was holding the carefully wrapped Christmas present over her head, a position she was all too familiar with. Her scared blue eyes were squeezed shut as she softly mumbled encouragements to herself. 

“I can do this. Just go out there and say ‘Merry Christmas, Adrien’ and hand him the present.” 

It was moments like these where she wished that she had Ladybug’s level of confidence and bravery. Than again, when she thought about it, the one time she came face to face with Adrien as Ladybug she froze. So maybe not even Ladybug could give him the Christmas present. 

The thought caused an unwanted whimper to escape her lips. 

“Oh, Marinette,” a tiny soft voice spoke as she felt something land on her knees. The black haired girl looked up to see her little red Kwami sitting on her red Christmas legging clad knees. “You can do this,” Tikki told her, resting her little hand on the tip of Marinette’s nose. She gave her little friend a small smile before it transformed back into a frown. “He’s going to love it, just like he loved the scarf.”

“He loved the scarf because he thought it was from his father,” Marinette whined maybe a little too loudly as she started flailing her arms. “What if he doesn’t really like it? What if he doesn’t like  _ this _ either? What if he gets mad at me for making him something at all? What if he hates me for it?” Her voice became small and scared as she buried her face back in her knees.

“Marinette,” a new voice joined them in the kitchen. Her head snapped up to make sure Tikki had hid herself away before Alya came around the counter. Her best friend dropped into a crouch beside her and patted her head in reassurance. “You are thinking about it too much,” she told her as she stroked her hair gently. 

“I can’t help it,” Marinette exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air again.She leaned her head back against the cupboards, the pompom of her red knit hat becoming an awkward pillow. She turned her scared gaze to her best friend.

Alya was wearing a brown Christmas sweater with white reindeer and christmas patterns on it. On her head sat antlers with little red and green bells hanging off them. To complete the look she had painted the tip and flat of her nose black so she looked like she had the nose of a reindeer. The look had made Marinette giggle when Alya had greeted her at the door, but now it was doing nothing to cheer her up.

“Girl, you can do this,” Alya encouraged. “You are my overly enthusiastic best friend. You never hesitate to help everyone even if you aren’t involved. You let Adrien believe that the scarf you made him for his birthday was from his father, but you can’t let someone else take credit for this gift. Now you are going to go out there and give him your present.”

Marinette took a deep breath and stood up, hugging the present to her chest. 

“You’re right, I can do this,” she said confidently. Turning around, ready to march out of the kitchen and back to the party, she froze as a blond head suddenly emerged from the doorway. Blue eyes wide and body stiff, she slid behind Alya beside her.

_ How long was he standing there? How much did he hear? What if he stood there listening the whole time?  What if he heard me talking to Tikki? is he going to tell me not to bother trying to give him the gift? _

Scared, irrational, thoughts ran rampant in her head as she coward behind her ombre haired friend. 

“Hey, Adrien. Did you need anything?” Alya asked coolie, not at all fazed being his timely appearance. He didn’t answer immediately, his green eyes watching Marinette curiously with a slightly concerned look.

“I, uh, was just going to ask where with bathroom was,” he finally answered, stepping further into the room. 

“I need to be getting back to my host duties, but Marinette can show you where it is,” Alya said smoothly with a triumphant smirk on her face as she pulled Marinette out from behind her. She ducked her head as she felt her cheeks grew warm and squeezed the present tightly. As she walked out of the kitchen, Alya turned and gave her a wink and two thumbs up. 

The kitchen fell into an uneasy silence. Marinette shifted her feet uncomfortably. She could feel Adrien’s green eyes boring into her. She had never been left completely alone with Adrien before, she usually had Alya at her side or he had Nino’s at his. Her emotions were fighting uneasily inside her. Thrilled, but terrified. Delighted, but overwhelmed.

“Um, Marinette? I really need to go to the bathroom,” Adrien suddenly spoke up. Marinette’s head snapped up, her face growing hot. 

“R-right! So-sorry!” she squeaked out. She moved around through the kitchen quickly and out into the hall. “Follow m-me. It’s just upstairs.”

She kept her eyes forward, focusing on her feet as she made her way up the stairs. The last thing she needed was her clumsiness to cause her to fall down the stairs and trip her crush in the process. Thankfully, luck was on her side and she made it up the stairs without any mishaps. 

“The bathroom is right there,” she said as she pointed to the second door on the right. Adrien gave her a small smile and a nod as he came up to the top of the stairs behind her.

“Thank you,” he told her. His shoulder brushed against hers as he moved passed her and her breathing hitched as her face grew hot. Well,  _ hotter _ .

“No problem,” she muttered out after a moment though she is sure he didn’t hear her as he disappeared into the bathroom. 

Marinette stood awkwardly at the top of the stairs, staring at the closed bathroom door. She alternated between drumming her fingers against the present she still had pressed into her chest and tugging at the hem of her white cashmere sweater. She was debated if should stay at the top of the stairs and wait for him to come back out to give him the present or if that was to weird and she should wait at the bottom of the stairs for him.

Her thought process was cut off when the sound of soft whispers reached her ears. She started to turn to look down the stairs curiously, but whipped back around when she heard the bathroom door squeak open. 

There was a soft crease between Adrien’s eyebrows as he looked at her in slight confusion. 

_ He’s confused why I’m still here! I knew I should have waited at the bottom of the stairs! _

Before she could lose the last ounce of determination she had she thrusted the present towards him.

“This is for you,” she blurted out, her eyes trained on the toes of her black snow boots. She shyly looked up to see his reaction and froze when she saw the look of ‘awe’ on his face. 

His green eyes were fixed on the present wrapped in pastel green wrapping paper with little holly designs on it. Curiosity and wonder shined in his eyes. He looked almost scared to reached for it, like it might disappear if he tried. 

Marinette felt her heart flutter as she took in his reaction. She did this to him. When his eyes finally flicked up to her face he looked at her like she just gave him the world. He looked between her and the present a few times and he opened his mouth and closed it again as he did so. She couldn’t help, but giggle. He looked like a small child learning the meaning of Christmas.

“T-this is for  _ me _ ?” he finally got out, his voice shaking slightly. She gave him a shy, encouraging smile and nodded. 

Carefully, he took the gift from her hands like if he used too much pressure it would break. Marinette clasped her hands together as she watched him strategically removed the wrapping paper. Removing the lid of the box, he stared in amazement at the baby boy knit beanie. Eyes flicking up to look at her, she smiled at him and bit her lip. 

Marinette watched as the boy that she was in love with lifted the baby blue knit hat out of the box. Running on autopilot, she took the box and wrapping paper from him. Casting her a thankful look, he smoothed down his hair before pulling on the hat. 

She marveled at how handsome her looked with the hat on. The way his blond hair curled up around the edges of the hat. How well it went with his scarf (which she made so of course they went well together).

She made no effort to stop the sigh that passed through her lips or the dreamy look that was definitely on her face. 

“Marinette, thank you,” he finally said after a long pause. “This gift is amazing. It even matches the scarf my father got me for my birthday. Did you make it yourself?”

“Y-yeah!” she squeaked, blushing. She hadn’t expected him to recognize that it was handmade. 

_ Of course he could tell it was handmade! He’s a model and his father is a very famous fashion designer! Stupid Marinette! _

“I wish I had known you were making me something,” he continued. “I would have got you something in return.”

“N-no! Don’t worry about it,” she exclaimed, flailing, cheeks red. “I just thought maybe you would like a hat to match your scarf. It’s not a big deal, really!” Her voice cracked and fell silent when he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. The smile on his lips was bright and thankful, making Marinette feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It was the very smile that she had been hoping to see when she originally came up with the idea to make him a present on her birthday. Now she has finally seen it directed at her and she could help the grin the broke out on her face.

“Seriously, thank you, Marinette,” he told her, smile never faltering. “I’m glad your my friend.”

Her back straightened as she stared up at him with wide eyes. It was her turn to look at him in awe. 

_ F-friend? He called me his friend! _

“Y-yeah! M-me too,” she stuttered out. Green eyes stared into blue for a few long moments and her cheeks grew redder with each passing second. They both looked away at the same moment, Marinette’s eyes looking down at her feet and Adrien looking off down the stairs as he rubbed the back of his neck, slightly flushed. 

“So, um, we should probably get back to the party now,” he said after clearing his throat. 

“Yeah,” Marinette agreed with a few frantic nods, her nerves still firing wildly. “I’m just going to throw this away real quick.” She dashed into the bathroom and dropped the wrapping paper and box into the waste basket. 

She had all intention to dash right back out, but she saw herself in the mirror and froze. Her face was beat red, almost as red as her hat. Bracing herself against the sink, she took a deep breath in attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart.

_ In. One. Two. Out. One. Two. _

Regulating her breathing and focusing on reducing the redness of her face, she stood in front of the mirror staring at herself. She remained there for a few moments before her nerves reminded her that Adrien was waiting for her so they could walk back down to the party together. 

Peaking out into the hall, she could see Adrien still standing at the top of the staircase waiting for her, hat still firmly on his head. A dopey grin spread on her face as she stepped out of the bathroom and walked up to him, hands clasped behind her back. When he saw her come back out he smiled at her, making whatever was left of her heart melt.

_ This is the best day of my life. _

Adrien led the way down that stairs, Marinette maintaining a specific distance behind him.  They had made a great stride, more so her, and the last thing she wanted was to be too close to him and have him think she was weird or creepy. Her eyes flicked around from looking at the back of Adrien’s head, her feet to make sure she wouldn’t miss a step, and the hall below them, still curious about the whispers she heard earlier. 

She froze at the last stair when she spotted  _ something _ hanging from the ceiling in the hall.

Adrien made it a few paces down the hall before he noticed she was behind him anymore. 

“Marinette, what’s- oh,” he started, but stopped when he too spotted the very object her eyes were locked on.

The offended branch of green leaves was hanging casually between them. Marinette had no doubt that it was the reason she heard whispers before. She had no doubt that Alya had strategically planned it out. She had no doubt that she is going to yell at her best friend later.

She knew her face was beet red. She knew her mouth was hanging open as she gaped at the plant. She also knew that there was no way Adrien was going to kiss her.

Silence stretched out between them. Her blues eyes finally tore away from the mistletoe to look at Adrien, not registering her classmates peaking out of the livingroom at them. She took in the sight of the blush on his cheeks as he gaped at the plant that was  _ very much there _ . 

“I-it is a tradition,” Adrien spoke, his voice barely louder than a whisper. Marinette could only gape at him and nod, her voice long gone. Ladybugs buzzed into her stomach and her knees grew weak as he walked towards her. She was still standing on the bottom step of the staircase so she face was level with his. “Is this okay?” he asked shakily as he came to a stop in front of her, nervous green eyes looking into her starstruck blue ones.

_ He is such a gentleman! _

Voice still failing her, Marinette focused on making sure her nod wasn’t as frantic as her nerves wanted to make it. Her heartbeat and breathing stopped when he reached up to caress her cheek, brushing her bangs away from her face (or, at least, he tried to). Her breath hitched and her eyes lips fluttered shut as he began to lean into her, lips puckered in anticipation.

It was everything she thought it would be and  _ so _ much more. It was soft. It was gentle. It was warm. It was  _ perfect _ . All of her panicked thought processes ground to a halt as she absorbed the feel of his lips against hers. 

His soft, gentle, warm, lips. 

Marinette was on cloud nine and she never wanted to come down. 

Unconsciously, her hands gripped his shoulders, no longer trusting her legs to support her. She leaned against him, eliminating whatever space that still existed between them.

The kiss was brief, but it felt like it went on forever thanks to her brain slowly processing every detail. The pressure of his mouth against hers. The warm, gentle caress of his hand on her cheek. The feel of his jacket bunching in her hands. The warmth spreading over her cheeks and down her neck. The way her heart was skipping every other beat.

Marinette’s lips chased his briefly when he pulled away. She didn’t dare to open her eyes, suddenly plagued with the fear of dislike on his face. Instead she leaned into his hand that was still against her cheek, dreamy look on her face. She could feel his breath fanning across her face, letting her know his face was still close to hers.

Her eyes snapped open wide and a yelp tore out of her throat when loud clapping and whistles suddenly filled her ears. Adrien jumped away from her and whipped around. They both stared at their friends in horror as they laughed and cheered. 

“Nice hat, Adrien,” Alya commented, winking at Marinette. 

She smiled shyly at her friends and bit her lip, completely flushed. Glancing at Adrien, she watched him nervously grin at the crowd and rub the back of his neck.

_ Definitely the best day ever. _


End file.
